Chapter Text
Jupiter takes advantage of Kiza’s weakness for Max’s big eyes (as she had well predicted) and goes up to her room to keep on planning a birthday party for a one year old baby that would never appreciate the effort. But who is she kidding? She knows this is mostly for Nino’s benefit, who would love to see him all dressed up and for her mother, who couldn’t wait to pull on his pointy little ears.
My poor baby.
So she starts thinking about food and guests and she has already taken Diomika’s crew to some Earth restaurants but for some reason they have never tried her family’s cooking before…
And then her sheave lightens up to alert her about a message from Maledictes.
“Shit,” she murmurs, her fingers hesitating over the buttons for a moment before deciding that she’d rather listen to it along with Caine.
She runs down the stairs trying to remember exactly when was the last time she saw Kalique in person: she was still pregnant and they met to seal the contract that would shut down the Denebola Refinery, which meant that the Al Geiba’s tersies were safe from the harvest. Jupiter has not forgotten that they’re supposed to meet in another six months, but in the last year her life has been more about diapers and stuffed animals than about saving planets while legal brawling with the entitled involved. Now, her life on Earth and her space obligations are about to collide. Again. She doesn’t know what to expect.
She’s about to call her husband’s name when the image of her baby boy leaving his kneeling dad behind to run to Kiza’s arms takes her breath away. It’s been a few months since he started walking but those are the most assured and enthusiastic steps he’s ever managed so far.
Stinger nods while Caine claps in celebration as the blonde takes the baby in her arms.
“Soon you’re going to steal your daddy’s boots, right baby-bee?”
“Soon he’s going to be able to hunt you down if you keep talking with that weird voice,” says Stinger noticing that Jupiter’s by the stairs, holding the sheave in her arms.
“It’s not weird, is cute. And baby-bee likes it, don’t ya?”
“What’s wrong Jupiter?” asks Caine getting up from the floor. He caresses Max’s head and ruffles Kiza’s hair on his way to his wife.
“Maledictes sent me a message and I… don't want to listen to it alone?” says Jupiter showing the sheave and noticing that once she says it out loud, it sounds a little stupid, “Sorry, I panicked. This is silly…”
“Of course it’s not,” says Caine bending a little to kiss the top of her head.
“Do you think this is about the Vinde deal?” asks Stinger getting up from the couch while Caine takes the sheave to play the message, “Maybe she wants out this time?”
“I don’t think so. She’s the one getting richer every time I cancel a harvest…”
Once the message is set, Caine touches the device behind his ear and pixels gather out of nowhere to form Maledictes in the middle of the living room “Greetings, your Majesty and Mister Caine Wise,” says the projection, giving an exaggerated vow that gets the attention of the tiniest Wise in the room. Kiza lets him go to stand by Stinger’s side, looking attentively at the splice’s image, “I took the liberty of sending you a message in the name of Lady Kalique, requesting an audience at your Earth Alcazar in regards of her new sibling’s first birthday. My Lady is eager to introduce herself and to offer him gifts that will fit a proper welcome into the Abrasax family. Please, let us know what date and time suits you the best,” his head goes down again and Max decides that he wants to grab it, “Have a good night, your Majesty, Mister Wise.”
The projection disappears and Max falls to his knees, looking around confused.
Jupiter exchanges worried glances with the others unaware of the resemblance with her son as she picks him up from the floor. For a few silent seconds Caine looks at her and nods in a reassuring way that helps her calm down and get a hold of herself.
“Can we vote this? I think we should vote this,” says Kiza and everybody (even Max, who’s to playing with Jupiter’s hair) looks at her questioning, “What? Are you seriously thinking of letting an Abrasax near our baby-bee?”
“Kiza…”
“Dad, I’m the royal nanny and you’re practically his grandpa!”
“This is Caine and Jupiter’s decision and we’re going to support them,” he says in a low growl to make clear that his verdict is final, “and your Majesty can request as many cruisers from the Aegis as you want, if you’re doing this...”
“You really think she’s actually planning something?” asks Jupiter half smiling, not wanting to believe that this could be an evil scheme from Kalique; not after all those years.
“Tots!” exclaims Kiza in such a juvenile way that Jupiter has a brief flashback of when she was eighteen.
“You’ve been working together for years now, your Majesty, but for an Entitled a decade passes in the blink of an eye; it means little,” Stinger explains patiently, trying to ignore Kiza’s attempts to engage him in an argument.
Jupiter drops her lips absentmindedly against her son’s forehead; she always forgets that for her and Kalique, the concept of ‘time’ couldn’t be more different, “What do you think, Caine?”
Her husband lets his eyes wander over Max. The baby’s smiling widely at him, “I think…” Caine starts and takes a moment to cross his arms while lying against the wall, “that one day Maximillian will have to face a lot of mean people in the universe, no matter what he does. He might as well start doing it while we can back him up.”
Jupiter closes her eyes and purses her lips into a little smile “So he’ll practice with auntie Kalique…”
“Unless you think is better to wait, your Majesty.”
“Wait for what? ‘till he reaches sixteen like a debutante?”
“like a what?”
“Excuse me, auntie Kalique?” Kiza crosses her arms and looks at them with the hurt of betrayal flashing in her eyes.
“Well, he’s not calling her sister,” Jupiter assures while walking to her, “Kalique’s old enough to be the mummy of my great grandmother’s grandma,” she puts her baby in the arms of the offended nanny and gets closer enough to whisper, “Besides, he told me himself that you’re his favorite aunt…”
“Okay,” she says at last, starting to pace around the living room to keep Maximillian entertained, “I’ll accept this under two conditions: One, I’m always in the room and two, she doesn’t get to hold him.”
“Kiza, you are our Aegis reinforcement.” says Caine while dropping his arm over Jupiter’s shoulder, “Where else would you be?”